Special Agent Hannibal Lecter
by Alice Ariell
Summary: The little we know about Season 2 implies that Hannibal will be working with the BAU on cases while Will is imprisoned. This story uses that idea as a launching pad, diving into one iteration of the potential interactions that will take place.


**A/N: I don't own any of Thomas Harris' or Bryan Fuller's brilliant characters. This is a pleasure piece made in anticipation of the Season 2 trailer being released tomorrow! Comments are always appreciated. Much love to my fellow Fannibals. The He-Ate-Us is nearly over! **

Hannibal Lecter calmly gazes down at the corpse before him. The victim's body has been mutilated, but the face of the young man is left intact. He must have been thirty-one, and seemed as though he had been a happy, active person. He began to contemplate the murderer, as Jack had so politely requested he do.

The room behind him is tense. The team of forensic agents seem baffled and slightly irritated by yet another addition to their team. Still, they felt the loss of Will's mind. They were already juggling several unsolved cases since he was institutionalized. Jack had been adamant that were it not for Hannibal, Will may have unconsciously murdered others before succumbing to the encephalitis.

Zeller fills the uncomfortable silence with hot air. "I always thought he was crazy."

Beverly exhales sharply. "Yeah, and how many cases did he solve? And how quickly did he solve them?"

"I'm not saying he isn't brilliant. But you can't deny he always acted bizarrely and had weird mood swings."

Hannibal drinks in their conversation while quietly examining the wound patterns on the body. He will have to come to Will's defense as his psychiatrist, but not quite yet.

"What we deal with isn't easy. Maybe it upset him to see how easily we handle death."

"Don't blame me for being good at my job, Bev." Zeller holds his arms up limply.

Jimmy looks uncomfortable, but interjects. "We should probably focus on the case before Jack fires us and I empty my liquor cabinet." Beverly raises her eyebrows. "What? I like him. He's weird, but we're all kind of weird. He made things interesting and solved cases. That makes him Okay in my book. I just hope he's getting the help he needs."

Hannibal turns slowly and smiles grimly at the trio. "Will was suffering for longer than we knew. What you discovered about him…truly shocked me. We couldn't have imaged what was going on in his mind. He has recovered physically, but refuses to accept what's happened."

"I don't think I could accept if Jack told me I somehow don't remember murdering five people," Beverly replies. Hannibal nods. "The way he did it. Will was on our team and Jack just _layed it on him_ like a ton of bricks. Arrested him and sent him away to the place he fears most."

"I believe what Jack felt he must do was truly difficult for him." Hannibal says smoothly, listening to the patter of Jack's shoes entering the room. He must always keep up appearances of friendship and understanding, underscoring their history as Jack's confidant. After all, this method had worked perfectly with Will. Just thinking about him makes Hannibal take a deep intake of breath. Imagining Will behind those bars fills him with a predatory dominance. Will was not only beaten by Hannibal. He now _belongs_ to him. After all, Hannibal was a collector of rare things…

"I had hoped that my feelings on the matter were obvious," Jack responds darkly, more to his team than to Hannibal.

"They are, Jack," Beverly replies firmly. "I didn't want to find Abigail's blood under his fingernails and neither did he. He was shaken. He didn't understand what was going on. He didn't understand why he couldn't solve the case because he _was _the case."

Hannibal respects Beverly's grasp of the situation, even if she is mistaken about his guilt. He watches Jack nod solemnly, and Price and Zeller nod briefly in their turn. They are all so blinded by Hannibal's machinations that they believe every diagnosis he utters, never imagining that Will was innocent of these murders, a mere pawn in a much larger game.

"Well luckily, he isn't _this _case," Jack says as he strides toward Hannibal and the body. "Holden Anders, thirty-one years of age, bartender in Tribeca, found butchered in a small sail boat off the Hudson. What have you got for me?"

"His mouth was filled with candle wax, which we removed to access his teeth for a dental match. There was a wick in the center of the wax that was lit, suggesting a fixation with fire."

"Okay. Spurned lover?" Jack replies, eyes on Hannibal.

"It is very likely," he agrees quickly. He is not very interested in such obvious pathology.

"I've started interviewing past girlfriends, female co-workers and so on. It's going to take some leg work. He had a wife, but she tried to commit suicide when she was twenty-four, three years ago, and has been institutionalized ever since," Zeller adds.

"What level of security does this hospital have?" Jack asks aloud.

"Umm…low?" Zeller looks like a kid found with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Hannibal, would you go talk to this woman about her ex-husband? See if she has motive?"

Hannibal smiles, enjoying the role of detective more than he thought he would. "It would be my pleasure."

He will enjoy this diversion until Will is well enough for a visit. He imagines Will in his dark cell, counting the seconds until their first session, separated by pure, unadulterated Truth and the steel bars that come as payment for such a gift.


End file.
